CrossBoundary Energy Managing Partner Jake Cusack was a moderator at the Africa Business Conference, hosted by Harvard Business School. Mr. Cusack's panel, "Building a Sustainable Energy Enterprise for the African Market," featured organizations including PowerGen Renewable Energy and Off Grid Electric.

Managing Partner Matt Tilleard appeared on Kenya Television Network's Business Today to discuss solar energy's potential in Africa. Mr. Tilleard explains how "solar is a new conversation for a lot of Kenyan business owners…but we’ve reached the moment when they should be looking seriously at solar."

Managing Partner Jake Cusack has been selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar. The program is a collaboration between four presidential centers to foster growth in diverse group of young leaders, committed to improving the social good by addressing a problem or need in a community, profession, or organization.

SolarServer reported on the US$8m equity raise for CrossBoundary Energy. In the article, Managing Partner Matt Tilleard states "solar is now a viable alternative energy source for businesses in Africa. But it needs finance to be attractive.”

The $8M first close of the CrossBoundary Energy Fund I was included in the Wall Street Journal's Frontiers News Roundup. As explained in the news roundup, "The new fund brings to Africa a financing solution similar to that used by U.S. rooftop solar giant SolarCity, which allows customers to pay for the solar installation through their electricity bills rather than paying for the whole project upfront."

Low Carbon Energy Investor interviewed Managing Partner Jake Cusack on the $8M first close of the CrossBoundary Energy Fund I. Mr. Cusack explains how CrossBoundary Energy provides "the tool kit and the financing for existing installers...to [sell] solar as a service through PPAs."

PV Magazine published a piece on the $8M first close of the CrossBoundary Energy Fund I. In the article, Mercom Capital CEO Raj Prabhu notes, "this is one of the first funds that we are hearing about with the lease model" in Africa. CrossBoundary Energy offers fully financed Power Purchase Agreements to to Commercial & Industrial offtakers.

Africa Capital Digest published a piece on CrossBoundary Energy's US$8m equity raise for the CrossBoundary Energy Fund I. As Managing Partner Jake Cusack explains in the article, CrossBoundary Energy "is a unique and innovative financing platform that will pioneer an entire new asset class in Africa.”

CrossBoundary Energy today announced the first close of CrossBoundary Energy Fund I, Africa’s first dedicated fund for Commercial & Industrial solar. Over the next 18 months, the fund will deploy over $25M to build solar facilities to power African enterprises through the SolarAfrica platform.

Due to a dramatic fall in cost, solar is now a viable alternative energy source for businesses in Africa. But it needs finance to be attractive.

Across Africa, economic growth is stifled by expensive and unreliable electricity. This challenge represents an immense opportunity for investment. Matt Tilleard, Co-Managing Partner of CrossBoundary observed, “Africa is undergoing an energy revolution and has become a laboratory for pioneering new methods of energy delivery. A key driver of this has been the dramatic fall in cost of solar power – down by over 80% since 2008. Solar is now often cheaper than the grid in a majority of African countries.”

Jake Cusack, Co-Managing Partner at CrossBoundary, noted that “For many of the businesses that drive Africa’s growth, solar power is now an alternative source of cheaper and cleaner energy. However adoption remains low due to two barriers. First, solar has a substantial upfront cost. Without financing, solar installers are typically only able to offer upfront purchase of the solar system. This means that the customer has to pay the full cost of 25 years of electricity on the first day. Second, many customers are unfamiliar with solar and reluctant to take responsibility for the technical and operational details of the system.”

Mr Tilleard said, “In markets such as the US, both these barriers were removed through the introduction of financed solar solutions. Instead of paying upfront, the financier builds the solar asset and the customer enters into a long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). With today’s announcement, we are bringing the same financed solar solutions to Africa. Financing is now available to make cheaper, cleaner energy a reality for African enterprise.”

Empowering project developers through the SolarAfrica platform

CrossBoundary Energy will deploy its investment capital through SolarAfrica, a platform that provides solar installers a fully financed ‘PPA in a box’ to offer customers. SolarAfrica brings together CrossBoundary Energy’s financing with technical oversight and asset management services from NVI Energy. Through SolarAfrica, CrossBoundary Energy allows solar installers to offer Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to African firms – enabling them to pay for the solar assets over time, just as they would pay for grid electricity or diesel fuel.

Mr Tilleard said “SolarAfrica already has a strong network of partners and we are actively looking for new installers or developers who are interested in offering a financed solar solution to their potential customers. We are currently in operation in Kenya and are hoping to expand to up to three additional countries in the next three to six months. Our funding is available for solar projects above 100 kWp that serve commercial and industrial customers.”

A ground-breaking transaction

CrossBoundary Energy has raised US$8m in equity to provide solar power for African enterprises. After debt leverage, CrossBoundary Energy Fund I intends to invest a total of over US$25m in solar assets over the next 18 months.

Mr Cusack observed, “The fund is a unique and innovative financing platform that will pioneer an entire new asset class in Africa. It is backed by a prestigious group of investors from the USA and Australia attracted both by the commercial returns and the opportunity for positive environmental and economic impact.” Investors include Blue Haven Initiative, TreeHouse Investments and Ceniarth.

Power Africa has been a crucial supporter of CrossBoundary Energy. Through Power Africa, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) provided an early-stage grant to support establishment costs and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided a $1.3M first-loss contribution to the fund. Mr Tilleard noted that this “was a groundbreaking innovation by USAID that helped attract private investors to this opportunity.”

In addition, the Shell Foundation, an independent charity, has also provided grant funding and business support to accelerate CrossBoundary's expansion into markets outside of Kenya and lay the groundwork for follow-on funds.

The lead legal adviser on the transaction was Chadbourne & Parke LLP with local counsel support from the Africa Legal Network and Viva Africa. Ikenna Emehelu, a partner at Chadbourne said: "We helped solar companies create a market for distributed energy in the US. We have seen that mass-market adoption of renewable energy occurs not when technology becomes available, but when it becomes affordable. By pooling institutional capital to finance upfront installation costs of solar systems, CrossBoundary has made solar affordable for the malls, hotels, schools and small businesses it serves in Africa. Chadbourne congratulates the CrossBoundary team whose tenacity and vision has unlocked a promising new market in Africa."

CrossBoundary Energy’s first investment pioneers new ground in East Africa

At fund close CrossBoundary Energy also announced that its first major investment is an 858 kWp solar installation at the newly opened Garden City Mall in Nairobi. Mr Tilleard announced “It is the largest rooftop solar system in East Africa and the largest solar carport system in Africa. It is also the largest solar PPA that we are aware of with a private consumer in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is an exciting first step on CrossBoundary Energy and SolarAfrica’s mission to introduce solar-as-service to African enterprises.”

Conclusion

Providing clean energy for African businesses represents a major commercial and environmental opportunity. The development of innovative energy financing and business models in Africa means the continent could have smarter, cleaner and more decentralized electricity infrastructure than developed countries. Mr Cusack noted that “Through the first dedicated fund for Commercial & Industrial solar, CrossBoundary Energy hopes to help Africa take a clean path to development through a transition to improved infrastructure and increased economic productivity with minimized environmental impact.”

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About CrossBoundary

CrossBoundary is an innovative investment firm that provides transaction and economic advisory services to help unlock capital for positive change in underserved markets. The firm was founded in 2011 and has worked across a range of frontier markets and also developed innovative mechanisms to attract investment in fragile states affected by conflict such as Afghanistan and Mali. Recently, the firm has launched CrossBoundary Energy, the first dedicated investment fund for commercial and industrial solar in Africa.

Contact

For further information, to request photographs, or to arrange an interview, please contact Kirsten Smith: Kirsten@gongcommunications.com

Pieter Joubert will join a panel on 'Alternative funding for renewables for mines' at the upcoming 'Energy and Mines' conference in London in January 2016. He will discuss how CrossBoundary Energy can provide an effective finance solution to make solar an attractive power supply option for mines in Africa.

The Wilson Center has posted a webcast recap of its recent event, "Charging Ahead: Scaling Up Renewable Energy in the Developing World", where Managing Partner Jake Cusack spoke on solar power's potential as a cost-effective energy solution for African enterprises.